The Chicago landmark has been occupied by Bloomingdales since 2003 but will now become a forum home to an array of pop-up vendors and activities.
River North’s historic Medinah Temple is gearing up to open this fall as an exciting new vibrant space by the name of Holocene Chicago.
The landmark structure at Wabash Avenue and Ontario Street was built in 1912 and features eye-catching Moorish-style architecture. It was once home to a u-shaped auditorium that could seat up to 4,200 people and hosted all manner of concerts and large-scale events. The building was designated a Chicago landmark in 2001 but it’s interior was drastically changed in the early 2000s to accommodate a new Bloomingdales store that resided there from 2003 up until last year.
Blue Star Properties are now redeveloping the premises into a three-story multi-functional hotspot. The Holocene Chicago website reads that once it opens in fall of 2021, it will offer visitors “an immersive retail experience, a marketplace of ideas, and a forum where brands and new audiences meet.
The retail and entertainment center will trial their new idea for the iconic space for one year and make it a mainstay in the River North neighborhood if the concept takes off.
Little is known about which vendors exactly will take a spot within the 135,000-square-foot space but it will feature a range of attractions and activities across three floors. There will be art exhitions, live performances, workshops, digital gaming experiences, and a range of rotating retail vendors as well as fitness classes, cooking classes, and more.
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[Feature image from Instagram / @holocenechicago]